Mubasher: US entertainment company Lionsgate posted earnings for the second quarter of its fiscal year 2020, which came beyond Wall Street estimates, with its movie business profit ballooning.

Net income attributable to Lionsgate shareholders was $1.8 billion, or $0.01 in diluted earnings per share (EPS), during the three months to September, compared with a loss of $144.1 million a year ago.

Meanwhile, this came better than a projected loss of $0.05 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.

Lionsgate’s second-quarter revenue totalled $983.5 million, climbing year-on-year from $901 million.

Motion picture business division churned out $51 million in net profit, soaring by 295% from $12.9 million the year-ago quarter, on revenue of $405.8 million.

This reflected strong gains from theatrical performances, including “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” “Angel Has Fallen,” Rambo: Last Blood,” coupled with the outsized gains from its blockbuster “John Wick: Chapter 3.”

Revenue from Lionsgate television production climbed by 80% year-on-year to $274 million, with profit growth of 34% to $12.6 million.

On the other hand, the media networks segment division saw its profit dropping by 14.75% on year to 104.6 million, on revenue of 374 million, due to Lionsgate’s investment in growing Starz Play International streaming platform.

“We’re pleased to report a strong quarter that showed solid performance in all of our key financial metrics,” Lionsgate’s CEO Jon Feltheimer said.